30 Years
by Rebel Mutant
Summary: My contribution to 30th Anniversary of TMNT, It is the 30th Birthday for the Turtles, and Donatello takes some time to reflect


_**(I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...I was asked to contribute something for the Turtles' 30th aniversery...I'm not that great at coming up with things on the fly...But then I looked at this as an oppritunity...This is primarily written from Donatello's POV because while Donatello is my favorite Turtle he seems to be the hardest for me to write...I don't know why...Also...This story is connected to my story Other Mutants, and you might want to check that out it's an attempt to combine the 2003 Cartoon version with the early Tabletop RPG TMNT & Other Strangeness with some influences from the fan comic MNT Gaiden...But anyway...the Story is about the Turtles 30th Birthday and how their world has changed)**_

Donatello woke up, he felt dizzy, he had a strange dream...Now that he had woken up he couldn't quite remember what about the dream had frightened him all he knew was that he was laying in his bed, sticky with sweat.

Donatello got up, put on his mask, for some reason the Turtles always put on their masks before leaving their rooms...For some reason it always felt odd to be seen without their masks on...None of them were sure why...It just was that way...

Donny went to the bathroom and splashed some cold water in his eyes, He looked in the mirror, he was 30 years old...He paused and let that sink in...No longer were they Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, now they were just...Mutant Ninja Turtles. Donny looked at his reflection...They had grown quite a bit over the last few years, when they were Teenagers they were shorter then the average Human now they were as tall as Casey...Donny figured was probobly because Reptiles grow much slower then Mammals it was only now they had reached full adult size.

Donny filled a cup with cold water and drank...He was not going to get any sleep at this rate...He decided he would head downstairs and see if there was a way to settle his mind.

Donny walked into the kitchen area...He looked at the clock 3:13...

"Geez..." Donny said "I'm really up early...What was it about that dream that scared me?"

He tried to think back to that dream, but when he did he got inexplicable shivers down his spine...He couldn't think about it right now...His stomach rumbled...He was hungry.

He looked at the fridge "I know I shouldn't do this..." He said to himself as he walked to the fridge..."This is Mikey behavior...But I got to do something to settle myself."

Now as they're birthday had been today...There had been a big birthday celebration in the lair...In the back of the fridge was a rich, lucious devil's food cake, just a few slices left just begging to be tucked into.

Donny cut off what he thought was a reasonable slice, took out the jug of milk and poured himself a glass.

As he sat down with his snack...His mind wandered to the biggest events in his life...Or perhaps more accurately the most traumatic events in his life. He had been captured by aliens, sent to a bad future, mutated beyond reconition...The more Donatello thought about the more he was beginning to feel the dream that he just had was a dream of all the horrible things that happened to him over the years...He paused with the fork halfway in his mouth. Part of him wondered why after all the things that had happened to him he never became mopey or obsessive like Leo, the two times he was defeated...Donny stopped and thought about that for a while.

"Maybe it's just not in my nature..." Donny said to himslef...Taking a sip of milk "Maybe...Something inside me is just built to endure."

"Endure what?" Came a voice nearly causing Donny to jump out of his shell.

He looked and saw Tiger Lilly, the Mutant Tiger he had helped some years back standing there. Tiger Lilly had been mutated the same way they had, by exposure to the Utrom Mutagen, fleeing the zoo she was born in, she had lived in the wild for many years with no help or companionship, she had permission to come to the lair whenever she wished or needed to.

"Tiger Lilly." Donny said "You might want to give some warning when you come at this hour."

"It started raining like crazy just a few hours ago." Tiger Lilly said "I didn't want to be in my tree during a thunder storm so I came down here...Is something the matter?"

"Nothing much." Donny said "Just...Thinking about how so much has changed."

Tiger Lilly chuffed softly, she had a soft spot for Donatello as he had been the one who saved her life 24 years ago when they were both Teenagers...Since then he had helped educate her about the world, which was good as she pretty much had only had the school of hard knocks living as a wild animal in the forest.

Tiger Lilly's sensitive nose caught the faint aroma of chocolate and milk.

"Having a midnight snack I see..." She purred

"My stomach demanded it.." Donny said he popped another forkful of Cake in his mouth "I think after the nightmares I had my body was demanding some comfort food."

"You've been having nightmares?" Tiger Lilly said "What were they about?"

"Just about..." Donny sighed "All the bad things that ever happened to me."

Tiger Lilly sat down next to him. "We all have those nightmares." She said "I dream about the bad things that happen to me from time to time."

Donatello looked at Tiger Lilly, she really had matured into a fine Female Tiger, she was wearing a green strapless dress that contrasted beautifully with her orange and black fur, her long scalp hair was worn in a long braid down her back.

Donny always wondered why feamle Mammal Mutants have long scalp hair and males don't? Even female Bird Mutants have long scalp feathers but why? Why does Mutation seem to correlate with human standards of beauty?

"Donny..." Tiger Lilly whispered "Is there something you're thinking about?"

That snapped Donatello back into reality "I was just thinking..." He said "How so much has changed...How Mutants can walk around in public now...That we've been roconized as a race...It was true, it seems the Turtles weren't the isolated incidents they thought they were, there were many Mutants in the world, some had been living in hiding like they were, others had been living among Humans, someone had been paying the media not to follow them around and put their pictures in the tabloids, some Mutants were created via accidental encounters with mutagenic elements like they were, others were complete random mutations, just some random animal born with Humanoid form and intellience, and others still were created through deliberate experimention, some Humans treated their creations well...Other treated horribly...But now society as a whole reconized Mutants as the sapient beings they were and gave them rights.

"It seems so strange..." Donatello whispered "After everything we've been through...I still have trouble believing I've lived to see this day."

Tiger Lilly plucked an apple from the fruit bowl and took a bite out of it. She chewed thoughtfuly she seemed to be mulling something over in her mind.

"Part of me thinks back to when I first heard Les Miserbles..." She said "I was still living as a wild animal in those days, but the music from the concert hall was so beautiful I just had to get closer to hear it...I remember the words from the finale...Do you hear the people sing,lost in the valley of the night, it is the music of the people who are climbing to the light, for the wretched of the Earth there is a flame that never dies even the darkest night and the sun will rise.."

Tiger Lilly took a deep breath and whispered the next words "They will live again in freedom in the garden of the lord, they will walk behind the plow share they will put away the sword the chain will be broken and all men will have their reward..."

She stopped and looked at Donatello "All men will have their reward..."She whispered "I think that includes Mutants as well...If there is a higher power up there...That power cares about us Mutants as well."

Donatello smiled, maybe that was true... 


End file.
